Junk in the Country is not only fun to say, but it's an apt name for this annual sale. Each year, Robin Lowe, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, has a sale at her home. Robin uses recycled and upcycled items, as well as plenty of ingenuity, to make beautiful home decor. For all you tree huggers, (I use this phrase kindly.) this is a very "green" event. There are no stickers that say Made in China and no worries of child or otherwise unfair labor practices. Okay, Robin might debate the latter, but it would be her own doing. :) The items, hand painted, handmade and wonderful, are on display in a beautiful barn next to her house.

Robin is a woman like no other. She is resourceful, kind, brilliant and artistic. Once you meet her, you want to be her friend for life. I've bought a few things here and there from Robin over the years, and I have been fortunate enough to be the recipient of some beautiful gifts as well. She always has something to brighten my life and my home.

A beautiful chest of drawers available at Junk in the Country

Even if you think you have no need for what Robin is selling, just the drive to her home is worth the trip. She lives out on Kidd Island Road (signs will point the way from there), just a few minutes' drive into the country outside Coeur d'Alene's downtown. The sale is August 4, 2012 from 8 am to 3 pm- the same weekend as Coeur d'Alene's Art on the Green. If you're out that way, or even if you're not, put this on your calendar.

You can see more of Robin's items on her Facebook page here.

A New Jersey pastor has told his married church leaders they must delete their Facebook pages or resign. He claims he has spent the last six months counseling couples whose relationships have been ruined after one of them had reconnected with an old flame.

You can read the news story here:

After seeing marriages crumble, pastor tells church leaders they can't use Facebook

I have a Facebook account, and it has allowed me to stay in touch with a lot of people I might not have found otherwise. I don't think Facebook is ruining marriages by giving couples a better opportunity to cheat on their spouses. People who are going to cheat will do it with or without Facebook. Facebook may just make them feel less dirty about it because at least they used to have a relationship with the person. People and their stupid choices are at fault, not social networking sites.

Notice I only said Facebook doesn't make people cheat. There are plenty of other ways Facebook can ruin a marriage. For example, I see some of my Facebook friends posting notes on their spouse's wall telling them how wonderful they are and they miss them. It's a little nauseating sometime, but not a bad thing. It's a bad thing when you are sitting side by side on the couch "watching" TV with your iPhone in your hand doing it. It's a bad thing when you start to get tired of sucking up to your spouse all the time and begin to use Facebook as a "Honey Do" list: Take out the trash, wash the dishes, do laundry, make dinner and for heaven's sake, stop leaving your socks all over the living room floor. (Okay, that last bit came from my own frustration, but you get the point.)

How do you feel about Facebook? Do you think social networking sites are making it easier to cheat?

One never mentions Fight Club
No corsets
No hatpins...


Thank you Jodie N. for sharing this on Facebook. I have watched it at least three times. I want someone to make this movie. Why not? They did it with zombies so why can't they do it with Fight Club?

Jane Austen's Fight Club

I am so relieved I have Facebook to tell me it is my anniversary tomorrow. Without Facebook I would totally forget I had been married for 15 years. Seriously though, really?  My Facebook page says, "Tomorrow is your anniversary to Jon." I guess if Jon was prone to forgetting these occasions it would be a good thing, but I think we have it covered.

With the advent of the New Year people everywhere are making resolutions. I've noticed the majority of resolutions are to encourage people to do things like lose weight, become organized, find a new job, go back to school or finish that great American novel they started.
I think this year instead of a resolution of what to do I will make a resolution not to do certain things.
So here is my list of things I resolve not to do in 2010.
I resolve not to:
1. Give in to the '80s trend and wear leg warmers.
2. Watch any of the Twilight movies.
3. Use non-stick pans.
4. Look at the nutritional value of my favorite cookies before I eat.
5. Watch commercials (unless they are extremely funny).
6. Update my Facebook obsessivly every two minutes from my phone.
7. Ask my husband how his day was when I already know the answer (bad).
8. Set up a Twitter account.
9. Scream obscenities at the basketball refs during the UI games.
10. End any sentences with prepositions.
11. Stress bake.
12. Buy cereal that I wouldn't even eat if I was a health nut.
13. Find amusement in other's misery (there may be some exceptions).
14. Write columns about family members (unless I can conceal their identity so thoroughly even I don't recognize them).
15. Buy anything from a late night infomercial (which I won't see anyway because I'm not watching commercials anyway).
16. Attend beginning band concerts without ear plugs.
17. Help my daughter with homework until I have taken a mild sedative.
18. Spend more on fast food than on produce.

...to be continued...

I am watching "You've Got Mail" as I clean my kitchen. It is one of my favorite Nora Ephron movies and one I watch when I want to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As I watch Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks "chat" online and become friends and ultimately fall in love, I started to think how nice it would be to have an anonymous friend to tell your problems to.

Wait a minute, it sounds like a patient and their therapist, a worshipper and confession with a priest or even an international pen pal from Bulgaria or Denmark you know you will never meet.

Hmmmmm.... maybe I should open a new Facebook account with an alias and ask Jon (my husband) to be my friend. If Jon is like a majority of people on Facebook, he will accept my alias as a friend, even though he is not sure if he actually knows me. Then I can chat with him every time he is online and unload my problems with my 'husband' or tell him about work. I would of course have to make up a different job and a fictitious husband who coincidentally has all the same annoying habits Jon does.

Okay, that really seems like a lot of work. Maybe it would just be easier to continue moaning and whining on my blog. Yep, that will be easier. While some of you know me, there may be some readers who don't. I can make this work.